


awaken, my beating heart

by kittykatdennings94



Category: Daredevil (TV), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Excellent fluff, I am not crying about Daredevil being over
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-15
Updated: 2015-04-15
Packaged: 2018-03-23 01:36:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,229
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3750094
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kittykatdennings94/pseuds/kittykatdennings94
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>literally me tooling around with the newest Marvel babe and my favorite intern EVER. Darcy went to law school somehow between Thor: Dark World and present day. Don't ask me how, but she just did.</p>
            </blockquote>





	awaken, my beating heart

**Author's Note:**

> Enjoy!

“Fucking hell!”

Darcy stomped her booted foot in annoyance as she failed, once again, to successfully hail a cab. She, who never had trouble with cabs in Brooklyn or Manhattan, could not for the life of her hail a taxi in Hell’s Kitchen.

“TAXI!” Darcy tried again, attempting to whistle with her fingers while waving her free arm around like a maniac.

She groaned, reminding herself that _she_ had been the one to refuse Jane’s offer to use the van to make the drive. Darcy had no intention of dying in the metal deathtrap that had succeeded in felling the Mighty Thor (much like her taser), so she had opted to take the subway and then find a taxi.

It quickly became apparent to Darcy that if she didn’t get going soon, she was going to be late for her interview.

Darcy pulled up the navigation app on her phone and typed in the address of her destination. As she waited for the map to load, a group of teenage boys passed. The dumbest looking one (with the face tattoo) stuck his tongue out at her and waggled it between the V of his fingers.

Doing her best impression of a person who gave a fuck, Darcy smiled and waved at the goons. Her phone finally pulled up the map, so she began to half walk, half jog towards the law firm she was interviewing at.

Thankfully the route was pretty straight, so Darcy could review her resume and qualifications in her mind.

_I have a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Culver University, 2012, cum laude._

_I’m a Graduate of Columbia Law School, 2015, summa cum laude._

_I interned with Dr. Jane Foster, who discovered the Einstein-Rosenbridge and saved the world in London two years ago._

_I was Pepper Potts’ assistant slash Avenger’s Liaison._

_Oh, and I tased Thor._

Her phone beeped to notify her that her appointment with the firm was in 10 minutes- she was 15 minutes away.

Taking a deep breath and nestling her satchel strap carefully across her chest, Darcy broke into a full sprint. Ignoring the stares of passerby (her bra was no match for the size of her breasts and cruel, cruel gravity), she counted her steps. The burning in her calves faded away for a moment, and Darcy could actually understand for a moment why people ran for leisure.

Mentally pumping a fist in the air, she stomped up the steps of the firm’s building and paused at the top to catch her breath and dry her sweat. The air was nice and cool, spring was in the air as much as it could be for a city with the word hell in its name, and Darcy Lewis was about to kick ass at her interview. Pulling out her makeup bag, Darcy reapplied her lipstick (red, like the blood of her enemies) and touched up her foundation with a dab of her finger. Satisfied that she straddled the fine line between professional and sexy librarian, Darcy straightened her glasses and entered the building.

Three flights of stairs later, she stopped before a door with a handwritten sign taped to it.

“GONE FOR LUNCH. BACK AT 2:00.”

Darcy checked the time on her watch- she was scheduled to meet at 1:30, and it was already 1:27.

Sighing to herself, she slid down the wall to sit next to the office’s entrance, and began to unlace her combat boots. They had gotten this far to the interview, and her new pumps were going to get her the job- if she ever got an opportunity to meet with someone.

Easing her tired feet into the black high heels, Darcy stretched her legs out. The floor was filthy, but she was too tired to care. Plugging in her headphones, Darcy pressed play on her iPod.

She shut her eyes, and waited.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Matt heard a strange grumbling in the air when he entered the building three floors below his offices. He tried to focus, to figure out what was disturbing the usual silence of their building at 3 PM, but it was too distant for him to ascertain. Erring on the side of caution, Matt ignored the urge to grab his billy stick, and instead took the stairs three at a time, keeping his feet light and soundless.

The vibrations in the air became quite clear, and he finally found their source.

_Vanilla lotion- a woman._

_Sweaty- nerves or physical exertion._

_Snoring- definitely, decidedly asleep._

Whoever was sitting next to his office door was almost in REM sleep- her heart rate was slow and thudding, steady like a clock.

Matt bit back a laugh and crouched to gently shake the sleeping woman’s shoulder.

“WHAZZAT!!?!?” She jerked upright and stared straight ahead. Matt could hear her swallow nervously and clench her jaws.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you. I’m Matt. Can I help you?”

The woman stiffened, then relaxed. He smelled the vanilla more pronouncedly now, as she took his proffered hand and stood up. She was short, though he could smell the leather of what had to be expensive Italian high heels.

The woman blinked once, twice, and then spoke.

“I didn’t mean to doze off in front of your office Matt. At least, I presume you’re the Matthew Murdock of Nelson and Murdock, Attorneys at Law?”

Matt reminded himself to be professional and nodded. “Guilty of all charges. Let me just unlock the door-“

The woman stilled suddenly, and Matt forced himself to continue unlocking the door. It was always like that, when someone figured out that he was blind.

As they walked into the office, Matt braced himself for what almost came next-

_“I’m so sorry to ask- so awkward- but are you blind?”_

_“Were you born blind?”_

_“Do you remember what ________ looks like?”_

It was shitty for him as a kid, and it was shitty now, nearly 20 years later.

But the woman didn’t comment on his eyesight. She instead stood before him and took his hand, shaking it firmly.

“I’m Darcy Lewis, Mr. Murdock.”

“Pleased to meet you, Darcy Lewis.”

“You a boxer, Mr. Murdock? You have the grip of a professional fighter.”

_You have no idea._

Matt laughed and gestured towards his office. They sat down, and he offered Ms. Lewis a water bottle (which she gratefully accepted).

“What can I help you with, Ms. Lewis?”

Darcy stiffened again, and this time he could literally hear her heart begin to pound- thought not with fear.

“You mean you weren’t expecting me, Mr. Murdock?”

“Ah- not really, ma’am.”

“You’ve got to be kidding! Bloody hell. Bloody hell!”

Matt tried to figure out what the clearly angry woman was cursing about when he remembered a vague conversation he’d had with Foggy at Josie’s, little over a week ago.

_“We need a junior partner- to do research, interview people and such.”_

_“Foggy, can we afford another employee?”_

_“We have so many new clients, hornboy, we need some more hands around the office. Let’s hire someone hot, also. That should be a requirement.”_

_“It is a requirement, Foggy. For a sexual harassment lawsuit.”_

“Shit. Ms. Lewis- Darcy- I have to apologize for my partner, Foggy Nelson. I suppose he’s the one who got in touch with you about your application?”

“Yes! And he didn’t even have the decency to be here at the time he scheduled, at his own convenience! I ran in Hell’s Kitchen in a skirt, Mr. Murdock. I didn’t run from aliens faster than I ran today!”

Matt ignored the slightly hysterical tone in Darcy’s voice as well as the alien comment, and attempted to salvage the situation.

“I am also a partner in this firm, and fully capable of interviewing you. That is, if you’re still interested Ms. Lewis?”

Matt listened to Darcy inhaling and exhaling deeply, waiting for her response.

He didn’t expect her to curse quietly to herself.

“What’s wrong? Do you want to leave, Ms. Lewis, because I’ll be sure to let Foggy know how rude he’s been-“

“No- it’s not that. I just wish I’d known that you were…”

Matt felt his chest constrict- _there_ was the inevitable disgust.

People never failed to disappoint him.

Darcy must have caught a glimpse of his emotions on his face, because she grabbed his arm and violently cried out.

“No, no, not like that! I just wish I’d had a resume and cover letter that you could read by yourself! I hate being unprepared, and I hate not having anything for you to look over before an interview. I could’ve printed something in Braille, had I known beforehand.”

The constriction in Matt’s chest turned into breathless laughter.

“That’s why you’re upset? Darcy, no one _ever_ considers bringing me paperwork in braille. I have a laptop that can help me with that, most cases.”

He may have been blind, but Matt could almost see the dumbfounded expression on Darcy’s face. She took a minute to compose herself, and then she shrugged.

“Oh. Well, then. Wanna listen to me attempt to save this doomed interview?”

He listened to her talk for about 20 minutes after that. He asked leading questions, drawing out her views and morals.

Darcy revealed with sly laughter that she too was a fellow Columbia graduate, and that she was very proud of her degree. Her tone of pride was evident, and Matt liked it. Clearly she was a hard working person- he confirmed that opinion when Darcy described her toiling in the New Mexico desert with astrophysics and undisclosed SHIELD events that Matt would probably look into shortly after her departure.

Matt was pleased and relieved to discover that Darcy was a smart, professional attorney- and a good human being. She had a knack for making connections and finding patterns in seemingly random information, a gift she’d picked up from learning to code from Tony Stark (major name drop on Darcy’s part), and Matt was impressed.

Within the hour, Darcy was signing paper work agreeing on a two week trial with salary.

She was thanking Matt profusely, when he suddenly asked “Where do you live, by the way?”

Darcy made a puzzled noise, but responded readily.  
“I got a new place with my boyfriend last week, near Hell’s Kitchen. It’s a bit of a commute, but he doesn’t want me living here by myself. Also, I couldn’t bear to be apart from him, honestly.”

Matt swallowed his disappointment and began to walk down the stairs with Darcy. He had been able to ascertain during the interview that Darcy was beautiful. She had long hair up in a messy bun- he could hear curly tendrils swing around her slender neck every time she moved her head. She wore lipstick that smelled sweet, and probably had the most gorgeous breasts he’d ever seen- not that he could see. But his heightened senses could pick up stuff like that, fortunately, and he was very aware of his attraction to her. He has asked about her new home because he didn’t want her to be in any danger- not that she didn’t seem capable of self-defense, but Matt knew what Hell Kitchen might mean for a beautiful woman’s safety.

 

Still, he knew there was no point in pursuing anything with the woman. He had Claire- sort of. They saw each other less frequently (he got his ass kicked less frequently) and he missed her. The thought of her made his chest ache- no, he had no business looking for a one night stand with Darcy Lewis.

Matt held the door for Darcy, who was still talking about her hatred for Hell’s Kitchen’s taxi services. He was about to respond when Darcy’s phone began to ring- a tinny rendition of the national anthem.

Darcy held up a finger and answered it.

 _“Oh hey babe! Yeah, I got it!”  
_ Matt could hear the deep voice on the other line, but chose to ignore it. He definitely did not want to get involved with someone else’s girl. Darcy hung up and beamed brightly at him- he could hear her facial muscles forming what had to be a huge smile.

“Okay, Matt. My boyfriend should be here any second to pick me up. Thank you so much for this opportunity!”

“The pleasure is all mine. I’m sure Nelson and Murdock will be lucky to have a partner like you on hand.”

A new, deep voice interrupted Darcy’s reply.

“We’re all lucky to have Darcy around.”

Darcy squealed delightedly and Matt’s mood soured just a tad.

This interloper, whoever he was, stood a head over Matt, who was pretty tall at 5’10, and was very obviously built like a brickhouse.

“This hunk is my boyfriend! Steve, meet Matt Murdock. Matt, meet Steve Rogers!”

Matt’s breath caught, as did Darcy’s, as did _Steve’s._

Steve recovered quickly and shook Matt’s hand, exchanging pleasantries in a calm tone. Matt knew better- he could hear _Captain America’s_ heart pounding furiously. Bidding the happy couple farewell, Matt supposed he couldn’t blame the poor guy.

Secret identities made it hard for a man to enjoy life, and a woman like Darcy had to complicate things.

But having a partner? It made every heartbeat worth it.

Pulling out his burner, Matt selected the only number coded into the speed dial.

“Claire. I want to see you.”

FIN


End file.
